The week after Barcelona

Being back from Barcelona was kind of a downer. Don't get me wrong, I love London, but Barcelona was so amazing that being back to class and cold London was not ideal.

Monday we had class and just hung out during the day until it was time to go see the play The Madness of King George. This play was actually really good. It is about George III and how he goes mad due to his porphyria. His first bout of madness is overcome, and that is what the play covers. I discovered I was very emotionally invested in it and thus I thought it was very good.

Tuesday was fairly uneventful until we went to the Tate Modern. It was...interesting. Its all modern which just breeds some funky stuff, but there were some really amazing pieces. I could have stayed in there forever just figuring out each piece and painting and reading about them, but we were limited on time, but I'll probably take another visit there on another day.

Wednesday there was really nothing to report. Just a normal day of class and wandering around...

Thursday was also average until later in the evening. We got tickets to a Brandenburg Concerto by candlelight at St. Martin in the Fields. It was amazing. The musicians were insanely talented and although it could have been a little more “candlelit” it was very very good. There were some issues with people there who stared at us and seemed rather disgusted with our presence...but aside from that it was enjoyable.

On Friday we all got up very early for another weekend trip. We got on the bus and went to Avebury – its similar to Stonehenge but the rocks form a circle around the city which were presumably for protection or something until suspicion arose and then some were destroyed.

You can kind see the rocks in the background too

 We got back on the bus and went to Bath. Here we went through the Roman Bath museum. It was really cool and interesting but slightly overwhelming because of how much information was available. Also, sadly I think a lot of us are a little museumed out and it has taken away from the excitement slightly...still it was cool. We got to drink the “healing water” at the end which tasted metallic and disgusting but hey its all about the experience right? Maybe I added on years to my life or something because of it. ;)

Baaaaath!

 From Bath we went to a Welsh Museum. It was gorgeous! We walked all around these grounds and garden areas. Granted it was cold but it was still beautiful and the highlight of the day. Here are some pics!

So pretty

Welsh ducks

 From there we drove to Cardiff and checked in to our hotels. They were sketchy and not the cleanest...Mikelle and I are pretty sure ours had poo on the walls...but it was somewhere to sleep I guess. Haha. Annie, Ashley, Becca, Mikelle, and I went to a pub and got dinner and then we ended up in our room talking for a long time after before we finally went to sleep.

The next day was...dun da duh! My birthday! We got up and got ready and after being sung Happy Birthday on the bus we drove to our first destination: Stourhead. Stourhead is basically like this manmade garden area that isn't meant to look manmade and it is gorgeous. For those Austen fans, parts of the newest Pride and Prejudice were filmed there, and it is gorgeous. I'm obsessed with that P&P so this was a perfect place to spend my Birthday morning...just look...

The bridge she runs across after she founds out Darcy came between Bingley and Jane

And there it is! The rain scene location! So excited!

After Stourhead we went to Stonehenge. I have heard some pretty negative reflections on this which weren't entirely untrue, but considering I had very low expectations going in, I thought it was pretty cool. You don't get to be very close to it and it was really cold and windy while we were there and started raining towards the end so that could have been pretty miserable and not worth it, but it was still pretty cool and we made it fun by doing things like this...

Mikelle and I at Stonehenge!

Next we drove to Chawton...aka the town that Jane Austen spent the last years of her life. She wrote her last novels here, and it is the burial place of her mother and sister. We went through her house and walked around the little town in the rain. It was cool and looking back I wish I had bought some things in the little shop, but it was cool to be there and it proved to be pretty fun.

After that we got back on the bus to return home, after fixing up the “wet-rat” look we were all sporting we went out to dinner for my birfday. We went to this delicious Italian restaurant down the street from us and then got a pazooki at pizza hut then went back to the center and watched Pride and Prejudice, squealing at the parts we had been earlier that day. Overall, it was a great Birthday that begun in Wales and ended in London. :)

BARCELONA!!

So sorry for the delay...last week was travel week and we went to...drum roll....BARCELONA! This blog post will be starring myself (Lyssa), Mikelle Benfield, Emma Cisneros, Becca Cottam, Anna Steiner, Ivy Hutchison, Abby Barker, and Cami Jones. So here's how it went down...

Monday and Tuesday were basically spent writing papers and completely the large amounts of homework our professors decided to assign right before travel week; along with last minute preparations for the trip. Our car was picking us up at 3:30 AM on Wednesday morning to take us to the airport for our flight at 6. After a short but surprisingly miserable flight (involving air pressure problems and brains potentially exploding...or feeling like it), we landed in El Pratt airport and took a train to the city. Due to miscommunication concerning our lodging, we unnecessarily walked around Barcelona for hours looking at things with our somewhat heavy bags. Finally we made it to our apartment and after getting settled in and figuring out sleeping arrangements we got out into the city. SIDENOTE: Our apartment was nice, inexpensive, and well-located. We had intelligel mattresses...need I say more?)

Our first stop was The Sagrada Familia. Its this cool cathedral type thing that is incredible and so unique. It took like 40 years to make or something and is a product of Gaudi...as all the cool things we saw in Barcelona were. Inside it was freezing cold but it didn't take away from the awesomeness.  

Sagrada Familia...of course its under construction....

Inside...the architecture was supposed to look like a forest...mimicking the trees as the pillars. ..its amazing

The stained glass was amazing too, it represented different aspects of Christ

 Afterward, we walked around until Siesta was finally over and we could find something to eat. We found this Italian restaurant and had these really nice waiters and delicious pizza. Emma was a rockstar and spoke to them in Spanish (she is the only one who knows Spanish and was our means of communication...bless her). After that we found a grocery store and bought cereal and things for the next morning. We went back to the apartment and watched tv and then we went to bed.

We woke up, ate and got ready to go out, taking advantage of all our time. After our first day some of us were not extremely excited...BUT then we went to Park Guell. It is this amazing Gaudi park area kind of based off the Hansel and Gretel story. It was so beautiful and we spent lots of time there taking pictures and wandering around. Its up on this hill and has an amazing view of the whole city. We also ran into a incredibly inappropriate Spanish man clad in animal print, playing his guitar and singing/moaning inappropriate songs at us whilst his awkward friend danced beside him....rough. Anyways...

The whole crew together outside Park Guell

Gaudi Lizard!

Hansel and Gretel's House, and the Witch's house. 

This is cool....apparently it is where they did a photoshoot for America's Best Top Model...Mikelle was freaking out. It was funny. 

Abby, Me and Mikelle at the top of the park area...if we look uncomfortable its cuz the inappropriate leopard print man was singing to us just below here... But the view is amazing and you can practically see the whole city

We left the park soon after and wandered around for a long time looking for somewhere to eat before siesta. We split up and some of us found this strange restaurant with terrible customer service and ate a little there...we got tapas which were yummy and very “spanish” but that was the highlight as our waiters consisted of a strictly spanish-speaking woman who hated us and a english speaking incompetent man who told us the things on the menu that we tried to order didn't exist...after that we walked out only to find ourselves across from the Casa Mila, aka our next planned destination..how convenient. This is another Gaudi creation that was amazing. Its a large apartment like building where the top section has been made into part museum ish thing and part gorgeous architecture. Its hard to explain so you'll just have to see it...

Casa Mila...the roof....This was the best...

So beautiful

 After spending a long time here we left and wandered around the city some more. We went to the Arc de Triomphe and saw some intense rollerbladers getting ready for something or other. Then we wandered around some more and got gelato...it was delicious. We saw a protest going on which was a little crazy and then made our way back to the apartment.

The next day we went to La Rambla. Its this huge shopping street where they set up markets and things and it is notorious for pick-pocketers. Luckily none of us were victims but I was victim to disgust at the incredibly fresh sea food they sell (the crabs and shrimp and things were still wiggling on the tables :S) and the meat that they sell while it still looks like the animals...including bloody sheep heads with the eyeballs still in...looking at you as you walk by with the rank smell filling your nose...Ew shivering just thinking about it. But we bought some souvenirs in the shops and some delicious fresh fruit juice. The street ends at the pier and we made our way down there. We stopped at this outdoor restaurant because the waiters were very nice and helpful and it was expensive but had authentic Spanish food so we stayed. We got Paella which was delicious. We then walked around, met up with our other group members and went to the beach! It wasn't warm exactly but it was warm enough to take off our shoes and walk along the water for a while. It was also apparently warm enough to surf in wetsuits because there were tons of people doing that. Crazies..  

The Pier

Cami, Abby, Becca, and I. There is our Paella outside on the pier

I love the Beach... <3

Barcelona!

We left the beach and decided to walk to the Magic Fountains which was a super super long walk and we get there only to find out that it is under construction...upset. We walked around the area for a while anyways and took some pics. It was dark and some of us were incredibly done with walking...but I wanted to walk around and take advantage of all of our time seeing the city rather than riding the metro so some of us decided to walk, pulling the others over with us. We got McDonalds because it was cheaper and even better in Spain than it is in London, ending another day in Espania.

I'm upset cuz the Magic Faountains were under construction...grumpy face

Feeling a little bit better about the fountains, but still kinda grumpy...but we're cute

We found fountains....but they weren't very magical...sigh

 The next day, we shopped some more getting the last minute souvenirs we forgot to buy before. We then went looking for the Picasso Museum, but couldn't find it so instead we went to this park....I wish I had visual evidence of what happened next but since I do not I'll just have to relate the details...

Anna, Mikelle, Becca, and I found some orange trees in the park. Of course all the oranges within reach had been picked...but how cool is it to pick a fresh orange off an orange tree in Spain and eat it...thus, we HAD to find a way to make this happen. Mikelle and I picked up Becca cheerleader style as Anna spotted making sure she didn't die...we launched her practically into the tree and it was a SUCCESS! After laughing incredibly hard, we peeled the orange which was super juicy and took a slice. It was...disgusting. It was bitter and sour and we couldn't even get a piece down so we threw it away...but hey, it was still worth it.  

The Orange trees....so funny

We spent the rest of the time walking around looking in shops and Mikelle and I basked in the delicious sandwhiches we'd gotten earlier that day. We then went and grabbed our luggage and made our way to the airport and then back home to London.

Spain is amazing. I honestly loved it so much and I didn't want to come back to London...

Lessons I learned in Spain:

Spain loves me about as much as I love it...because everywhere I went I got some sort of discount that didn't exist or the people figuring out how much I owed did it wrong and even after I tried to tell them that they weren't charging me enough they would insist it was good and shew me away.

Spaniards love groups of girls...especially ones who look like tourists probably. They call out at you and whistle and the construction workers stare and make kissy faces even if they are using a jackhammer at the same time.

Along with this, funny story...Mikelle and Becca and I were walking down La Rambla, and this guy stood directly in front of us and said, “Oh. My. Gosh. Where you from so beautiful? Come with me now and I get you free shot, and free kiss.” He wouldn't let me step around him for a while but we I finally did and we quickly ran away laughing.

When you want to watch tv in your apartment in Spain, the only channel that is in English is the Disney channel...the only show on Disney is Phineas and Ferb....I watched more of that show in that week than I ever have in my life.

If you choose not to use the public transportation system at all but still want to see everything...be prepared to walk for miles and miles....all over the city....its fun...but your feet threaten to fall off.

Lesson you should learn from this post: Go to Spain...and when you do, take me with you. :)

Super Long Week = Super Long Blogpost

We spent a lot of the first couple days doing homework this week; recitations, papers, reading, watching educational movies, etc. So we'll just skip to the highlights...

Wicked! A big group of us went and saw it on Monday night. It was an interesting experience. I sat in the second row of the balcony middle. I think I was play deprived (due to the fact that I had yet to see one until this last week and I've been here for what? A month?) because as soon as it started I was so excited I started to tear up a bit. I feel like I'm not usually like that, but the excitement got to me. Elphaba...she was amazingly fantastic. She had the most gorgeous voice and was just perfect. Glinda was...a good actress? She was really cute and funny when she talked. Her voice...I'm not gonna lie, I hated it. Way too much vibrato, and she sang weirdly quietly and did the dynamics alll wrong...I think she was trying to make it her own but it just didn't work. Fyero...hotter on stage than in person and decent voice. Strange thing about staging an American written play here....the British accent takes out a lot of the funny elements. Ya know the whole “popular...laaar” part? Well ya see it sounds the same with a British accent, thus killing the funny. Oh and here they do not “dance through life” they “Daunce through life”...maybe I'm snobbish but it weirded me out. Elphaba made it beyond worth it though, I seriously loved her.

Wednesday morning we got on the bus to go to Stratford. On the way we stopped at this adorable quaint little town called Chipping Campden. It was so beautiful and such a cute little town. Loved it. Except for the part when we saw a dead fox... :( sad day. But besides that it was great.

Chipping Campden

Chipping Camden...random driveway that was just pretty

The quaint little town

We made our way to Stratford and began a Shakespeare experience. We started by going through Anne Hathaway's little cottage, then went over to Trinity Church to see Shakespeare's grave, then to his birthplace museum. The museum was the coolest part, it took us on a little video tour type thing and was kinda funny. Then we went through his house and got told some stories, saw some impromptu acting, and looked around.

Ashley and I at Anne Hathaway's Cottage

Mikelle, Ashley, Becca, and I outside of Shakespeare's Birthplace

We left the museum and were hungry and tired of being on the bus and such so we all went and checked into our Bed and Breakfasts....aka my new favorite thing. Ours (by ours I mean, Ashley, Mikelle, Abby, Kaylee, Sarah, and myself) was owned by this sweet woman who had a few kids and was just so nice to us. Our rooms were gorgeous...everything about it was just so cute and English. :) Oh! And the lady had two cats, Tilly and Max.....Max doesn't usually like people apparently, but he really liked us. Thus, he was rubbing against my legs....SIDENOTE: I am a sucker for animals and latch onto any that come near me come to find out...I pet random puppies/dogs that are walking and come over to me or are on the bus here, I try to hug horses, have photoshoots with swans, etc etc. (gee, I wonder why that is Daddy? Perhaps cuz I was deprived of pets? One specific one in particular? :P) Anyways...I wanted to play with the cat and pet it cuz he came to me and was very cute and soft...Problem – I'm allergic to cats. So a few minutes after I realized my hand was red, swollen, and itchy/tingly. Dumb of me I know...but hey I'm a sucker for small furry animals. So needless to say we had to make a pitstop on the way to dinner to pick me up some Benadryl. We then made our way to a pub that the guy at the drug store suggested to us....after much awkwardness and being carded despite the fact that we told them we weren't drinking...we finally got our food and ate. We picked up some chocolate and then made our way to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre to go see Taming of the Shrew....ha. Rough play......really rough. Moving on...after the play we were all just happy to be out of there and went back to our B&Bs and went to bed. SIDENOTE: If you are ever flipping channels and the movie “The Hitcher” is on...just don't even stop on it in passing. Okay?

This is Ashley with the cat...Oh the cat... (sorry its sideways..it wouldn't flip)

Our adorable room!

Me on my bed haha, I'm happy cuz Ashley and I got the cute room

Our rooftop access and view

Outside the B&B

Despite the fact that mine and Ashley's room was the cutest...it was also the coldest and we were freezing when we woke up. We got ready, went down to breakfast and were back on the bus. We drove to Warwick Castle and had a few hours there. It was pretty cool...Madame Tussauds got a hold of it so its theme park Disneylandesque (But not because Disneyland is the best and nothing compares). It was pretty but we didn't have enough time to make it to everything. But we took a bunch of pictures.

Haha

Just playin cards with the guys

Well he was filling up the tub...so...

Oh Henry, we always meet like this

 Mikelle and I are the 7th and 8th wives...we survived.

Uh oh....

We were trapped in a spiral staircase and the bus was gonna leave us! Hence the face

Then back on the bus headed to Oxford. We ate lunch there and got some delicious milkshakes at this Shakespeare place. We took a tour of Oxford, which potentially could have been awesome...but ya see we all wanted to die because it was utterly frigid. But that was forgotten for a few moments when this happened....

Look Familiar? Name that Harry Potter Scene filmed here...?

This would be the outside of the Infirmary and the Library at Hogwarts!

We Love Harry Potter!

We toured more and then had some time for ourselves to go explore. Then we got on the bus to take us home. We ate around here that night, studied for our exam the next morning, and then went to sleep cuz we were all pooped.

Friday...Aced the exam with flying colors and officially ended our London Walks class, got ready for the day, went shopping, back for dinner. After that we did some homework til around 8. There was this YSA dance we heard about in our wards so a large group of us decided to go. After a small ordeal in trying to get there we found it....haha there really is no way to describe what happened when we walked in the dance...or what happened throughout the night. It was....really funny and entertaining. The music sucked but it was actually a lot of fun.

The next morning...well...Backstory: This Englishman, Bro. Chittock, came and gave us a fireside like the first week we were here and he told us about this walk that he takes people on all the time and we set up a time to do it. Yesterday was the designated day, but it was supposed to be really cold and potentially snow. Thus, practically everyone backed out of the walk including the professors...all but 7 of us aka the troopers....Ashley Chipman, Mikelle Benfield, Sarah Barlow, Abby Barker, Emma Cisneros, Annie Olsen, and Myself....we bundled up well and went and met up with these cute little old men for a 10 mile walk around the countryside. Best decision ever...the walk was so incredibly beautiful and everything about the experience was worth it. It was not as cold as expected and it was all too amazing for us to care.

So Beautiful!

Loved this walk!

The Troopers and our Leaders

 We got back and everyone who wasn't jealous that they hadn't come should have been. Haha. We went and treated ourselves to some Pizza Hut deliciousness and low and behold it was snowing! Like crazy! After we ate we came back to the Centre. You'd think that would be the end of this awesome day...but oh contrare...after doing some homework I got in the shower to wash off the grime of the walk but when I got out and was brushing my hair in my strangely empty room Mikelle and Sarah came in grabbing gloves and telling me to come play in the snow with them. Well of course I put on a hat over my wet hair and clad in only a thin sweatshirt, sweats, and rainboots, go out there. Being from Utah we know what to do with snow....we have various snowball fights, make snow angels, and commence work on the snowman....He was huge....then, we sculpted him (Mikelle is practically a professional artist) and after some very hard work we made a Dinosaur. We named him Snowbanksies (lol, for those of you who get that, it'll be hilarious) and he is our pride and joy. Everyone who walked by asked to take pictures of him and with us. Seriously...Note to self: Building awesome snowmen is a sure way to make new British friends. We finished him at about 1:30 AM and finally went in to bed. He was all melted and tipped over in the morning because snow doesn't last long here but we took lots of pictures and are in some random British people's pics from all over Palace Court though.

Contrary to popular belief those wet rats are actually Mikelle, Sarah, and I in the snow!

Us with our masterpiece....Snowbanksies!

This long jam-packed week had an awesome ending and some great parts in the middle there as well.